21st minute: New York moves ahead 1-0, on a corner kick that Leo Gonzalez tried to clear from the middle of the box, but it went to New York's Macoumba Kandji, who sent it in off the crossbar.

No shortage of Sounders chances so far, however. This doesn't look like a game that's going to end one-nil.

15th minute: Scoreless, but nice end-to-end action with chances for both sides. Early yellow on Ljungberg for a high spikes-up challenge.

Kickoff: We've had the anthem and introductions, and the game has begun before a full, but late-arriving, crowd at Qwest. Sounders in rave/blue; Red Bulls in white/red.

NY coach missing: New York coach Hans Backe will not be on the sidelines for tonight's game. He suffered from stomach pains today, was checked out and ruled to be OK. However, he is staying away as a precaution.

Golden scarf: Tonight's Golden Scarf goes to Tim Murray. He was nominated by his wife Kate. He grew up playing soccer and was eventually recruited to Chicago's Croatian League. He went to college in Ohio on a partial scholarship and continues to play today. Murray attended all home matches last season in addition to travelling to a few away matches.

Starting lineups: The quick news is Freddy Ljungberg and James Riley in the starting lineup.

90 minutes till kickoff: They've opened the gates. Unfortunately, it's another nasty game night ... kind of misty/drizzly ... and very cold.

A reminder that tonight's game is on Fox Soccer Channel. Since not everyone has easy access to that, I'll try to stay current with the game on the blog here. Hope we have some good discussions like last season. As usual, I'll be back with any pregame news, with the lineup -- which could be interesting -- and then provide in-game updates, and postgame stats, notes, quotes and more comments.

Meanwhile, a sad little sign of the times: If you're wondering why you haven't seen any Sounders pocket schedules yet this season ... it's because they're not doing one.